12 Mar 2009

World court judges elect new president

8:13 am on 12 March 2009

Judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague have elected a new president for the court.

Sang-hyun Song of South Korea was chosen on Wednesday to replace outgoing Canadian Philippe Kirsch.

Fatoumata Dembele Diarra of Mali and Hans-Peter Kaul of Germany were elected as vice-presidents.

In a statement, the court said all three were elected by an absolute majority for a term of three years.

The court was set up in 2002 and has a bench of 18 judges. It is recognised by 108 countries.